Runner attachment for automobiles.



E. L. SCHUH. RUNNER ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMOBILES. APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1912.

1,056,063 A Patented Mar. 18, 1913.

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E. L. SCHUH. RUNNER ATTACHMENT FOR le.UTolvIoBILEs.

APPLICATION FILED MAYZI, 1912. I

Patented Mar.'18,1913.

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1: e D a alo@ o lEDWARD' SCHUH, GF COLBY, WISCONSIN.

RUNNER ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMOBILES.

vSpe-cioation of Letters Patent. Patented D131', 18, 1 91.3,

Application filed May 21, 1912. l Serial No.' 698,765.

T0 all wholiz, it may concerne.'

Be it knownthat I, EDWARD SCHUH, citizen' of the United States, residing at Colby, in the count-y. of Marathony andState ot'v Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful ,Improvements in- Runner Attachments for Automobiles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a runner attachment for 'automobiles whereby :the vehicleinay be utilized inwinter as well as in summer and may be .propelled under its own power 'With'-v out burning out 'tires or anyexcessive strain on the englne.-

The invent-ion seeks to provide an attach! ment of the stated character which may bel readily applied to any standard automobile,

'and in which the Propellers may be with# drawn into an. inoperative position when the vehicle 1s not 1n use.

The invention also seeksto improve, gen-` erally, 'attachments of this type Whereby'the operation will be more certain and the apparatus vmore durable than devices for the same purpose heretofore known.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be hereinafter fully described, the novel features being subsequently pointed out in the Iclaims following the description.

In thedrawingsz-Figure 1 is an eleva- -tion of an automobile showing my improved attachment applied thereto; Fig. 2 isan enlarged eleva-tion of the attachmentu'emovedfrom the automobile Fig. .I3 is a planyiew ot' the same; Figf ai is a longitudinal'section of the apparatus; Fig. is a transverse section of the same; Fig. G is a detail perspective view of oneot the p ropellers.

' In carrying out my invent-ion, I `provide an apparatus which is to be mounted upon,

the rear axle of the automobile as a substitute for each .of lhe rear driving wheels. This attachment comprises a-pair of runners 1 having their ends` connected by beams 2 which are provided at`theircente'rs with bearings 8 to fit upon the rear axle 4 of the automobile. runner, I secure a guard-platewhich pro jects slightly l below the under lside of the 'runner and takes into the ground, as shown clearly in Fig. 5, so" as to prevent ,tilting or skidding lof the runners. Upon thebeams 2, I provide slotted standards 6 connected at their upper yends by braces 7 and a-lso'reinforced by inclined braces Tov thel outer .face of each 8' extending 4between their upper ends and the beams 2, as' shown most clearlyy in Fig. 2. The standards G are constructed 'with racks 9 upon one wall of the -slot in the standard and are also formed with lianges 10 which extend slightly across the said slots, so as to engage boxes 11 constituting bearings for shafts 12 which have fixed thereon pimons 13 meshing with the racks 9. By rotating these shafts,

the propeller supporting and guiding plates will be raised and lowered, and to etfect rotation ofthe said shafts, sprocket wheels 14 are provided on their outer ends and connected by a sprocket. chain 15, as clearly shown. The necessary movement of the clrain is effected by a hand lever 16v disposed adjacent the chauffers sea-t and connected by a link 17 with the chain. The link l7 is' `composed of a tubular `member 17a pivote-d to the lever and a mem-ber lblpivotally attached to the chain at its outer end and having its inner end fitting within' the said `tubular member. A pm passes through the tubular member'and a slot yinthe member 17 lx to preventy separation' of the members Jwhile aspring, coiled within the tubular member `between astop therein and the end of the.` member 17". serves :to hold the latter normally Lprojected softhat movement "of the lever will actuate 'the chain. i'S'l-iould the propellers 'strike an unyeldin'g obstriiction I in the road, themembelrs .of the link *will telescope so as vto cushion the blow and' prevent'breaking of the parts. l

It. will. be readily understood that by manipulating` thejlever 16,4'tlie1sprocket. chain 15 will be caused to move in either di- .rection and consequently the sprockets "l-l will be rotated so as to rotate the vshafts 12 to which they are respectively secured, and the rotation of the' said Vshaft-s 12 will cause the pinions 13 yto travel up ordown upon.

the racks 9 and consequently. raise or lower vthe propeller carrying and guiding frame supported by said-shafts. i,

The propeller carrying :tra-me consists of twp parallel plates 18 having central openings 19 to clear the rear axle-Land provided ontheir 'mneropposed Vfaces with elliptical grooves 20which form guides tor the ends ofthe propeller bodies.

plates 18 at. thej'ends thereof,and one. o

Propeller shafts-21 are journaled'in thes'aid and supporting? V inner plate 18' and `equipped with'a sprocket 'wheel 22 ove;` 'which a *sprocket-chainw passes tol vconnect the said wheel 22 with a similar' sprocket wheel 24 fixed upon the rear axle 4 of the vehicle. Sprocket wheels 25 are fixedn upon the shafts 21 between the plates 1'8,.and the. propeller chain 26 is trained around the said sprockets.

The propeller bodies consist of pins 27 secured to the outer side of the propeller ing projected beyond the ends Iof the said brackets or straps 2 8, so that theirouter ends o'r edges'will take into the ground or the hard packed snow or ice upon which the automobile is to (travel, and consequently serve to impart the desired movement to maintain the propellers in proper position,

thevehicle, as vvwill be readily understood. The plates 18 are held together, so as to by cross bars 30. extending through the openings 19, as sl'fown clearly in4 Figs. 2, 4-

and 5.

The operation of my improved apparatus will, it is thought, be readily understood. The runners having been fitted upon the rear axle of the car, the lever 16 is man/ipn f lated to rotate the shafts V12, and through' the rotation of said shafts lower the propellers intoengagement with the groundv in the manner before described. "The engine being then started, the rotation of the rear axle willactuate the sprocket 24 and transv mit the movement of said sprocket through the chain 23 andthe sprocket 22 to the rear propeller shaft 21, which willy thereupon actuate the propeller chain 26. The movement thus imparted tothe propeller blades will cause the same to act as levers ful, crumed upon the ground to move the vehicle forward, so that the desiredtravel will be effected smoothly and without excessive strain upon the engine. Of course, as the rear traction wheels have been removed, the

tires thereon are not inuse and cutting of the same through contact with ice and the Wearing of the same through the rotation thereof againstice without moving over the same will no-t occur.

The ends of the pins 27, constitutingthe propeller bodies, project laterally from the propeller chain, as shown clearly in Fig. 5, and engage the grooves 20 in the plates 18 constituting the propeller supporting frame, so that the propeller blades will be lifted easily from the ground and Carried posi tively into engagement therewith as the vehicle proceeds. These guiding grooves serve also to supportthe propellers and consequently relieve the chain 26 of the weight of the lpropellers, so Athat breaking of the nism, but that other -substitut chain will not readily occur. The chain being thus relieved of the carrying strain, the full strength of the motor will be trans itited througth the Same to propel the ve- My device is exceedingly compact in the arrangement of its parts and may be readily applied to any type of car. It may be pro- ,ducedat a comparatively low cost and will be highly eiiicient in use.

While I have illustrated sprocket chains and sprocket wheels, it will. be understood of course, that the invention is not confined to this form of power transmitting mechaari'ng may be used and any t pe of lexib e connection may be for the sprocket' chain, and that other modifications ma be made without departing from the yspirit or scope of thejnvention as the same is defined in the following claims.

What I claim is l l. 'A runner attachment for vehicles comprising a pair of runners, slotted standards rising from said runners, racks upon said standards, shafts passing through the slots of said standards, pinions upon said shafts vengaging said racks, means for simultaneously rotating said shafts, and propeller mechanism carried by said shafts.

2. A runner attachment for vehicles comprising a pair of runners, slotted standards rising from said runners, racks on sald standards. shafts passing through the slots of said standards, pinions on said shafts engaging said racks, s rocket pinions on the outer ends of said sha ts, a chain connecting said sprocket pinions, means for actuating said chain, and propeller mechanism carried by said shafts.

3. A runner attachment for vehicles comprising a` pair of runners adapted to be fitted upon an axle of the vehicle, a frame consisting of parallel plates disposed between tlu` runners, means upon the runners for raising and lowering said plates, propellers supported by said plates and'moving between the same, and means for actuating said propellers from the axle of the vehicle.

4. A runner attachment for vehicles comprising a pair of y runners adapted to be fitted upon an axle'of the vehicle, a pair of parallel plates disposed between the runners and having guides upon their opposed faces, a chain of propellers supported by and moving along said Guides, means for actuating said propellers 7from the aigle of the vehicle, and means upon the runners for raising and lowering said plates.

5. A runner attachment for vehicles comprising a pair 'of runners adapted to be fitted upon an axle of the vehicle, a pair of parallel 'plates disposed between the runners and having elliptical grooves in their' o ing pins engaging said grooves and blades carried-by and projecting outwardly from said pins, means for actuating said propellers from the axle of the vehicle, and means for raising and lowering said plates.

6. A runner attachment for vehicles comprising a pair of runners adapted to be fitted upon the axle of the `vehicle,'a pair of plates disposed betweenfthe runners and having openings whereby the may clear the axle, means forv raising an loweringsaid plates, an endless conveyer between said plates, propellers comprising pins secured upon and projecting laterally from said conveyer to engage -said plates and be guided thereby, brackets secured to and extending outwardly from said pins and blades carried by said brackets, and means for actuating said conveyer from the axle of the vehicle.

7. A runner attachment for vehicles comprising a pair of runners, slotted Standards rising from said runners, racks on said standards,'shafts. passing through the slots of said standards, pinions on.said shafts engaging said racks, sprocket pinions on theouter ends of said shafts, a chainl connecting said sprocket pin-ions, propeller mechanism carried by said shafts, an operating lever, an extensible link connecting the lever with said chain, and means for holding the link 'cured' to and projecting from the pairs of pins and blades secured between said straps and projecting beyond the same, and means for actuating said propellers.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDlVA-RD L. SCHUH. [1.. 5.] Witnesses:

R. .Gn SALLIN, A; MA'r'rrrEIs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for live cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

